July 9, 2011

Only Ty Cobb, Hank Aaron and Robin Yount joined the club at a younger age than Jeter, who turned 37 on June 26.

That puts Jeter ahead of the pace set by Pete Rose, the career hits leader, who retired at age 45 with 4,256....

Only one other player, Honus Wagner, reached 3,000 hits while still a regular shortstop. Wagner did it in 1914.

“Physically, you have a responsibility that can be difficult, and mentally as well, you have to be in every pitch, every game,” Jeter said, referring to shortstop. “So there’s probably a reason why there’s not too many guys that have played the position that have had that amount of hits. I take pride in it. This is my job. This is the only thing I’ve done.”

...nobody gets to 3,000 hits on talent alone. Nobody joins the club on a happy cycle of hot streaks. You can’t luck into it. The great Reds announcer Joe Nuxhall used to say, “If you swing the bat, you’re dangerous,” and it’s true, a swing of the bat can turn Bill Mazeroski into a legend or the unbeatable Mariano Rivera into a loser in Game 7. An arresting series of games can stir a man to hit in 56 straight or collect 262 hits in a season or bat .400. But 3,000 hits is a life. It means hitting when you’re young, and hitting when everybody knows you, and hitting when the reflexes begin to slow, and hitting when you’re old. As Bill James has written: A flake cannot get 3,000 hits.

There was a time when Boston Red Sox fans were required to hate Jeter. He got the adulation from the national press that Nomar Garciaparra deserved (or so the Red Sox fan saw it). But then Nomar wore out, and became moodier, and was traded. Jeter kept going. Eventually, despite his wildly overrated defense, he became the most likable thing about the Yankees.

And I understand that he's the first Yankee to reach 3000. Considering some of the players that have taken the field for the Yankees, that's almost as amazing. Jeter is 130 hits ahead of Babe Ruth, almost 300 hits ahead of Lou Gehrig, 600 ahead of Mickey Mantle, and a whopping 800 ahead of DiMaggio.

He is not even among the 20 top shorstop of history not even the top ten of today. In any other team , he would be at 3rd . A-Rod was better at SS when moved.He did not deserve to be in the ASG, Cabrera and Peralta have far better season than him.The Golden Gloves he won in the last 4 years, at least, were undeserved. Ramirez from ChiSox was robbed last year.Thanks to the Yankees PR machines and the NY media he will be in the Hall Of Fame and the best SS ever, Omar Vizquel, ackowledege by the better befor him, Luis Aparicio, won be there blocked by the offensive of a defensive subpar player of a position where defense is what counts.Alan Trammel, Barry Larkin, David Concepcion, the captain of the Red Macchine, were better than him and wont enter either.Ty Cobb? There is no way to say both names in the same sentence. 362 carrer avg against 313.Neither Stan Musial, Roberto Clemente not even the hustler with his 302 career avg.

Jeter is 130 hits ahead of Babe Ruth, he was a pitcher firstalmost 300 hits ahead of Lou Gehrig, a mortal disease cut his career short600 ahead of Mickey Mantle,played with pain that not even cortisone could alleviate and a whopping 800 ahead of DiMaggio.Unforgivable for Joe , instead of playing baseball his was fighting a war

3,000 hits is a metric for a successful baseball player likely to get into the Hall of Fame on that stat (unless you are Pete Rose).

But it is not the only mark. Lots of hits is just one thing of value...Better is a guy that got 500 home runs and 1200 RBIs and "only" 2500 hits.And shortstops are also rated on defensive skills and hits taken away, which is not Jeter's forte and explains why some career .240 shortstops are in the Hall.

But congrats to Jeter on his longevity, sustained effort, general high level of classiness, and getting to that select club.

One thing Jeter never did was put his team ahead of himself. When the Yankees bought the best player in baseball, a player who had just won the Gold Glove at shortstop, did Jeter step aside for the good of the team? No, he said, "I'm the goddamn Yankees shortstop" and selfishly refused.

As a leader ... well, he led the biggest choke in the history of sports in 2004. Bar none.

Otherwise, he's still a great player and a Hall of Famer. But overrated nonetheless.

I'm a Yankees fan and Jeter is my favorite modern era player. He's a fine player, excels in his leadership role (the first Yankee captain since Thurman Munson, my favorite player of his era)and is one of the true gentlemen of the game. I don't ask athletes to be role models (although I wish they could be), but Derek comes by the role naturally because of the way he's comported himself through the years. He's on his way to Cooperstown and deserves to be.

What a ballgame that was today. Jeter had an outing most players can only dream of. I laughed, I cried, I cheered--it was fabulous.

@fivewheels - STFU, only useless wannabe's type crap like that in the annonymous universe, while Jeter shows up with Yankees on the front and Jeter on the back to do his job, under the glare of the lights. You sir/madamm are a coward.

Actually, I think Jeter's a better shortstop than A-Rod is, and A-Rod could at least shift over to 3rd, while Jeter really can't. It's simple baseball mathematics.

I'm a Mets fan, but I've always respected Jeter (I hate A-Rod and Clemens, though). He plays the game the way you want the game to be played, and isn't the prima donna that other players are (see the Yanks' 3rd Baseman). He has always been classy, and for that, I thank him, and salute him.

And now, can the Yanks please not make the playoffs? Us Mets fans want to make fun of the Yanks some.

I guess I'm just naturally averse to sacred cows. People think the guy walks on water, and if you say anything about him that isn't an abject blowjob, you get explosions of anger from people like SunnyJ, who I will note is also anonymous, and so knowledgeable about baseball he thinks the Yankees uniforms have "Yankees" on the front and names on the back.

I'm going to ignore the negative comments about Derek Jeter. Captain of the Yankees, the only Yankee player to have achieved more than 3000 hits in a career, the all time Major League leader in hits in post season play, the all time leader in hits in World Series play and he never used steroids in an era when folks who think A-Rod was such a great SS that Jeter should have moved to 3rd base, and are willing to ignore A-Rod's steroid use.And more important than any of that, Derek Jeter never used drugs, was never involved in any public altercations or drunkeness or any public behavior any decent person would shun.Hell, two of my best friends are BoSox fans and even they agree that Derek Jeter is the kind of man they'd like to see their sons grow up to be.#2 for the New York Yankees, the Captain, Derek Jeter. Nothing more really needs to be said about him.

But, I will say that Derek Jeter is always welcome as a shortstop on my favorite team.

Jeter, a consummate professional, embodies what it means to play the game the right way.

By all accounts, he is a model teammate as well. And, he has managed to keep his image squeaky clean playing all these years in NYC.

My ball cap is off to Derek Jeter for reaching this milestone. I had one eye on the TV while I was doing household chores yesterday and was happy to see his 3000th hit, a nice blast into the left field bleachers.

Yankee fans everywhere should be proud of this guy. Definitely one of the best.

Wow, I just read some of the comment thread and see some tool called 'fivewheels' blathering some bullcrap about Jeter/ARoid... are you f'ing serious? Shows you don't know shit about baseball.

You claim you are 'averse' to sacred cows? Hahahahahaha. Then why would the Yankee captain and shortstop be obliged to move over for ARoid?

Anyone who knows baseball KNOWS this was the correct move, guy. Your 'sacred cow' ARoid did not deserve the SS position on the Yankees.

What a joke. I'm all in with sunnyj, fafhrd and realwest, who recognize the man as a baseball player of class and ability and not some elite hired gun like ARoid who 'should have' been allowed the SS position.

Jeter is model pro ball player. His respect for the game, to himself, and for those around him is a testament to how all ball players should be. Congratz Jeter, you deserved it and much more. Awesome stuff.

Congrats to Jeter. My daughter fell in love w/ him when she was 10 years old. It told me things bode well for her future regarding men, and indeed it has.

Let's take off our cynical hats[myself included] and give kudos to Christian Lopez; who's only request after catching a ball worth 6 figures, was that he return the ball to Jeter in person. Classy..and the Yanks showed class taking care of this guy w/ luxury free tix. There is honor and class in this world, you simply have to keep your eyes and hearts open to it.

Hey, I can't stand A-Rod, and he's a cheater. But that doesn't mean he wasn't better than Jeter in 2004. He had just won the MVP award and the Gold Glove at short. It's almost not debatable if you're not a slobbering fanboy.

People are showing blind reverence for Jeter that's not unlike the "He can do no wrong" view some people have of Obama. The guy is human. He has positives and negatives.

I'll just say this: A fair starting definition of "overrated" might be if you say a guy is a great player and a deserving Hall of Famer and people react with emotional outrage because they think it's faint praise.